WATERLOO BRIDGE
US, 1940, 108 minutes, Black and white.
Robert Taylor, Vivien Leigh, Lucille Watson, Virginia Field, Maria Ouspenskaya, C. Aubrey Smith.
Directed by Mervyn Le Roy.
Waterloo Bridge is the classic romantic melodrama. It was based on a play by Robert E. Sherwood (The Petrified Forest) and had been filmed in 1931 by English director James Whale (Frankenstein) with Mae Clarke and Douglass Montgomery. It was to be remade in Cinemascope and colour in 1956, with a World War Two setting, with Leslie Caron and John Kerr.
However, this is the archetypal version: an officer at the outbreak of World War Two stands on Waterloo Bridge and reminisces about the young ballerina that he met at the outbreak of World War One. She stayed the night with him, was ousted from the ballet corps and went onto the streets for a living. She believed that the officer had died in action. However, this was not the case and they meet again – with a rehabilitation possible for the heroine.
Vivien Leigh, who had just won an Oscar for Gone with the Wind, is wonderful in this central role, one of those performances described as luminous. Robert Taylor is the ideal type for the officer – he had made Camille with Greta Garbo a few years earlier and was a leading romantic hero in Hollywood.
The film recreates the atmosphere of World War One – and the morale-boosting needed at the outbreak of World War Two.
The film was directed by Mervyn Le Roy who had begun his career in the 1920s, had made some tough films at Warner Bros in the early 30s including the classics Little Caesar and I Was a Fugitive from the Chain Gang. In moving to MGM in the early 40s, he continued to make films like Waterloo Bridge, for example Blossoms in the Dust and Random Harvest. He would continue to direct for the next twenty years or more, in the 60s with such big-budget items as A Majority of One and Gypsy.
1. How enjoyable was this film and why? It is considered a classic. Do you agree? It is considered a classic ‘women’s’ film. Is this fair to the film.. Why would it be considered a women’s film?
2. How evident in it that the film was made in the early forties. Comment on its style of photography, close-ups, use of music? Its own themes and ballet, the action. the staged sequences, the use of sentiment? How clear was it that the film was made at the beginning of the war? The patriotism, the sentiment and feeling? A film to weep at? What were the major qualities of the film making?
3. Comment on the impact of the structure the nineteen forties situation, the flashback technique, the emotional impact of moving forward to ultimate disaster? The war situation and the comparison of wars?
4. Was Waterloo Bridge merely a place? Or did it serve as a symbol and focus for the action? Roy’s memories on the bridge, the meeting with Myra on the bridge, Myra’s bad days on the bridge, death and disaster on the bridge?
5. How was the film seen through Roy’s eyes? World War II and the discussion about the impact of war, World War I, being a soldier in that era, rescuing the ballerinas, sharing the shelter. His going to the ballet and seeing Myra, his love for her and seeing her through his eyes, the luck of the war pass and the delay in his returning, the symbolism of the charm, the possibilities of joy? The role of bad luck, of fate, of absence? The return and his seeing Myra through absent eyes? The importance of his hopes, their being dashed? The effect of Myra on him? What insight into a man in love, in war, did the film offer?
6. How did the film centre on Myra? The quality of Vivien Leigh’s personality and performance? The emphasis on her loveliness and innocence? Audience sympathy for her? The initial charm in the shelter, at the ballet? Her delight in the experience with Roy? The note, her love, the candlelight club, the marriage preparation? The impact of Roy’s staying over night and the happiness of the day together? The contrast then with the sudden sadness, the departure at the station? The losing of jobs, the encounter with Roy’s mother? The importance of the impact of this and the reading at his death? Was it credible that she should go to prostitution? The impact of this on her life? How well contrived dramatically was her meeting of Roy again at the station? Should she have stayed with him or gone? How convincing was this? The importance of her going to Scotland, her worrying about the truth, her worrying about spoiling Roy’s life, her seeking of advice? Was her death credible? The importance of pathos, sentiment, the meaning in this portrayal of a young girl?
7. What dramatic contrast did Kitty make with Myra? The possibilities of friendship, Kitty humiliated, supporting Myra offering her insights into life?
8. The contribution of the task mistress of the ballet to the film? The severity of her running of the ballet. her treatment of Myra with the note, her humiliation of the ballerinas, her dismissing the two? Audience response to this and its influence in responding to the film?
9. The sequence with Roy’s mother? The dramatic impact of the delay, Myra’s nervousness, her seeing the death notice, her drifting, the humiliation of the interaction? The importance of their meeting in Scotland and the importance of Myra’s decisions?
10. The General and his impact on Roy for the marriage, on Myra and her decisions?
11.What were the main features of the film which stay in the memory? The presentation of the Candlelight Club. romance and music, the extinguishing of the candles? The importance of the farewell at the train? The remeeting of Roy at the train etc?
12.The dramatic impact of Myra’s death?
13.What values did the film explore and stand for ? On marriage, love, relationships, war, destiny?
